Congo Rebels Advance South as Regional Leaders Ready Summit

By Michael J. Kavanagh and Fred Ojambo -
Nov 22, 2012

Congolese rebels are advancing south
after their capture of the eastern city of Goma two days ago,
the United Nations said, as African leaders prepared to hold a
summit to discuss the crisis in the region.

Fighting is taking place between M23 rebels and pro-
government militia outside Minova, about 24 kilometers (15
miles) southwest of Goma in South Kivu province, UN spokesman
Madnodje Mounoubai said in an interview today in the capital,
Kinshasa. The clashes come after the fighters seized the town of
Sake yesterday.

“In Minova, there are confrontations between Mai Mai and
the M23 about 2 kilometers north of the town,” Mounoubai said.
Minova is situated on Lake Kivu, on the border of the North Kivu
and South Kivu provinces.

Congo’s Kivu provinces are the world’s largest source of
columbite-tantalite, the mineral known as coltan that’s used in
mobile phones and computers, according to Eurasia Group, the New
York-based risk consultancy. The Central African nation is also
the continent’s biggest producer of tin ore, most of which is
mined in the Kivus. Banro Corp. (BAA), based in Toronto, operates the
Twingiza gold mine about 200 kilometers south of Goma.

Cease-Fire Broken

M23 captured Goma after ending an unofficial three-month
cease-fire with the Congolese army, which has fled the city. The
renegade group is made up of soldiers that mutinied in April and
is headed by General Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the
International Criminal Court for war crimes. A UN group of
experts monitoring Congo’s arms embargo has accused Rwanda and
Uganda of backing the rebels, allegations both governments deny.

The UN experts’ report, released yesterday in New York,
said the effective commander of the rebels is Rwandan Minister
of Defense General James Kabarebe.

“We judge the overall body of evidence of Rwandan
involvement with M23 in the DRC to be credible and compelling,”
U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague and Secretary of State for
International Development Justine Greening said today in a
statement.

The experts’ report said Ugandan officials have also been
aiding the insurgents, support the U.K. statement described as
“of a lower intensity and less systematic than Rwanda’s.”

Regional Meeting

Congolese President Joseph Kabila, his Rwandan counterpart
Paul Kagame and Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni met in Kampala
yesterday to discuss the capture of Goma. Kagame and Museveni
urged M23 to “immediately stop its offensive and pull out of
Goma,” they said in a joint statement e-mailed late yesterday.

African leaders will gather in Kampala, the Ugandan
capital, on Nov. 24 to discuss proposals for the rebels to
withdraw from Goma and allow Congolese military forces to re-
enter the town, Ugandan Minister of State for Regional Affairs
Asuman Kiyingi said in a phone interview today.

Heads of state from the 11-member International Conference
on the Great Lakes Region have been invited to attend the
meeting, he said. The Southern African Development Community, a
15-nation regional bloc that includes Congo, condemned the
capture of the city while demanding the rebels’ immediate
withdrawal and a negotiated end to the crisis.

“We are calling for negotiations,” Kiyingi said. “The
return of Congolese soldiers will depend on the success of the
negotiations.”

Demonstrations

Most cities in Congo are calm after two days of
demonstrations against Goma’s fall, Mounoubai said. Isiro, in
Orientale province, has been declared a “dead city” by civil
society groups, who have encouraged residents to stay at home
and businesses to remain shut, he said.

Goma, about 1,659 kilometers east of Kinshasa, is situated
on the border with Rwanda at the northern edge of Lake Kivu.
Historically, it has been the main transit point for minerals
from the region.

Congo and Rwanda have fought directly or by proxy since the
late 1990s. A 2009 peace deal between Congo and Rwandan-backed
rebels improved relations between the two countries until the
M23 insurgency began seven months ago.